California Dreamin': A Nightmare of Collapse

There was a time when the California dream conjured visions of sun, endless summers, hot love, cool breezes, and muscle cars. The California economy, once the world’s 7th largest, supported these dreams — carrying us into the future on its brawny young shoulders. Innovation in aviation, computers, and countless other industries, compounded by the creative forces of free people innovating daily in a manufacturing economy, spurred the growth that produced the greatest bounty for more people than any other place on the planet.
Today many of those industries are long gone. Today’s California dream is more likely to take the form of a waddling, overweight, bureaucrat devising new schemes to hang on to her lavish lifestyle and cushy retirement. The California economy today resembles a sick and wounded old elephant carrying an impossible load of ticks and fleas each calculating how much more blood he can extract before it all comes crashing down.
How did this happen?